First there was brain training on the Nintendo DS with Brain Age and Big Brain Academy. Now there's vocabulary training with My Word Coach, a new video game that is based on the notion that you can increase your vocabulary by playing word games.
My Word Coach for the DS handheld game system offers six vocabulary training games and tracks your improvement as you play. It suggests that playing 20 to 30 minutes a day will help you to increase your vocabulary.
The training games expose you to more than 16,000 words and definitions from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which is found in the game as a searchable dictionary. The game was inspired by the research of Thomas Cobb, a professor of applied linguistics at the University of Quebec.
As in the popular Big Brain Academy, you enter a school to train — here it's called the Institute. You can choose from one of four word coaches to guide you. The game starts with a simple test to determine your "Expression Potential," a number assigned out of a possible 100. Your initial Expression Potential also takes into account your age.
After being assigned an Expression Potential number, you play the six training games to increase your number. If you are a child, the words presented to you in the games will be easier than if you are an adult. As you progress through the games, new words are added based on your progress with earlier words. The better you do, the harder the words become.
Four of the games focus on words and their definitions. In "Split Decision," the upper screen displays a word. You touch arrows displaying "Left" and "Right" to toggle between two definitions and then select the correct definition. With "Word Shuffle," you toggle between four definitions and then drag and drop words from the bottom screen to match the definitions. In "Pasta Letters," you are shown a definition on the top screen, and then must unscramble the alphabet noodles in a bowl of soup that appears on the lower screen. In "Safecracker," you are shown a definition on the top screen, and you must spell the word, using a dial to rotate to letters. While you are spelling, you are competing with a computer-generated opponent to be the first to spell the word. This game is also available to play with a friend if you both own the game.
In addition to the four definition exercises, there are also two spelling games. One game shows you a word with a letter missing. You provide the missing letter by writing it on the bottom screen. In the other game, you are shown a list of words in one screen while alphabet blocks fall slowly into the other screen. The object is to touch the blocks in order to spell the words on your list before the screen fills completely with blocks. When you do spell a word, those blocks disappear. This game is also available for two players.
While drilling words is an activity that requires concentration, My Word Coach tries to moderate this intensity by periodically introducing two recreational games that aren't tracked. Plus, after 20 to 30 minutes of training, the game suggests that you quit for the day.
People who are interested in words will find these training games intriguing. However, some adults may resent the emphasis on speed, because for them, it is all about learning the new words. For kids, the speed angle may actually help to sustain their interest in these educational games. High schoolers who are preparing to take the verbal and writing portion of the SAT might want to add this video game to their backpack — it's more fun than simply memorizing word lists.
A companion title of the same name is also available on the Nintendo Wii.
Gudmundsen is the editor of Computing With Kids magazine (www.ComputingWithKids.com). Contact her at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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